OPINION:
It's time to go shopping! For your KiwiSaver that is.
Who knew there were so many options to browse when it comes to KiwiSaver providers.
There are the all-obvious banks.
And then there are nearly 30 other non-bank options, the big players being AMP, Booster and Fisher Funds.
There are so many options to choose from and we should be shopping around for the best deals for our dollars.
We reported in our weekly Money publication this week that banks manage twice as many KiwiSaver accounts as any other providers.
The Financial Markets Authority's latest numbers showed banks have two million KiwiSaver members compared to about one million managed by other providers.
There are more than three million of us with about $62 billion in our KiwiSaver accounts. That's a lot of dosh to be passive about.
We could be doing ourselves a disservice by not be taking an interest or making informed decisions about how our money is performing.
As the experts say, we should be comparing performance rates and catching out any sneaky hidden costs so we can get the best bang for our retirement buck.
Banks may be familiar ground and convenient. But there are online tools to help us gain a better understanding of how to choose a KiwiSaver fund and maximise our savings and benefits.
There's plenty of types to pick from - balanced funds, growth funds, conservative funds and aggressive or defensive funds.
And don't forget to pay close attention to the fees!
Making a bad decision isn't the end of the world either and it won't mean we're throwing all our savings away.
If our minds change, switching providers is easy.
All we have to do is take responsibility, seek professional advice and then act!
Our mindsets on KiwiSaver need to change.
It's time to be more active in overseeing our investments because it could make a huge difference in the long-term. Start shopping around.